A cold way to close: Boy’s can’t capitalize against Gardner

Despite a valiant effort, the Eudora boys basketball team lost to Gardner Edgerton 51-35 Tuesday night at home.

The game started on a positive note. The 6-foot-3 junior Kelson Boyer caught the ball on a rebound during Gardner's first possession. Boyer quickly passed to Matthew Abel, who flicked it to Kent Swanson on the far side of the net. Swanson threw the ball in, posting the first two points of the game.

But things quickly changed for the Cardinals. After making six three-point shots in the first half, the Trailblazers made a pretty wide point gap between them and the Cardinals. Senior Tim DeArmond said the team was just not communicating efficiently, which led to Gardner Edgerton's amass of three-point shots.

"We didn't stop the main shooter who just got six threes on us," DeArmond said. "We just didn't communicate and get out there and cover him."

By the end of the second quarter, the score was 30-18. Eudora was never able to lessen the difference.

"We just didn't play well," coach Kyle Deterding said. "We didn't do a good job of getting the ball open and to where we could score. We played too soft."

Deterding said the game was a learning experience. He said the Gardner game exposed a bevy of weaknesses within the team, including the inability to set screens and the team's failure to lessen turnovers.

One aspect of the game Deterding said he was pleased with was the defensive play. He said, for the most part, Eudora slowed the Trailblazers down from scoring too many two-point shots.

Deterding said Mike Ortega was an invaluable defensive player in the game.

"He worked on the defensive end for us a bit," Deterding said. "He worked pretty hard down there and kept some of the big guys in check."

Ortega intercepted two passes in the first quarter, which led to four early points for Eudora.

It was the offensive aspect of the game Deterding said he was exceptionally unhappy with. Despite Gardner playing guys that stood at 6-7 and 6-6, Deterding said the team turned the ball over too many times before it could get in a shot.

"We did a decent job of getting past their big guys," Deterding said. "We just don't know how we would have done against them because we turned it over before we could get over there."

The loss to Gardner came just on the heels of a 45-33 victory against Anderson County. The Cardinals' record now stands at 3-3 for the season.

DeArmond said Gardner had a tough team, but despite the loss, he saw some improvement.

"We didn't get very many screens," DeArmond said. "We didn't roll off them and use that to our advantage. We did alright, but there's always room for improvement."

The Cardinals are not scheduled to play again until 8 p.m. Jan. 5 in De Soto.